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National News - June 2017

Belgium’s road safety is improving

In the first quarter of 2017, Belgium saw a drop in fatalities from road crashes of 15%, with 113 being killed. In Flanders the fatality rate dropped from 68 to 61 while in Wallonia the death rate dropped from 63 to 48. There was an increase in road deaths in Brussels however from 2 to 4. Injuries from road crashes were also reduced in the period, falling 3.4% while the number of crashes dropped by 1.6%.

This road safety improvement in Belgium is highly welcome given that the country has performed poorly in terms of road safety in this respect for many years compared to its neighbours, the Netherlands, Germany and France.

Northern Poland tunnel planned to connect islands

There is a high interest in the Polish project being planned to connect Wolin Island and Uznam Island in the north of the country. In all, 14 bids were received for the design and build contract during the tender process. The contract should be signed at the end of 2017 and the work is expected to be complete by late 2021. The project has been planned by the Polish roads authority, GDDKiA, and involves the construction of a 3.4km tunnel connection.

Bulgaria road tunnel tender recommencing

The tender process for a tunnel project on Bulgaria’s Struma Highway is now reopening. The project did go to tender earlier this year but had to be restarted following unexpected technical issues. The work will be for the construction of the Zheleznitsa tunnel, a project expected to cost €128 million. The project will be split into three separate lots, with the work including two road links as well as the tunnel.

The 156km Struma Highway, when complete, will improve transport for Bulgaria, running from the capital Sofia to the border with Greece. Around 87km of the highway has been completed and is already in use. However some sections of the route are complex due to the difficult terrain in the Kresna Gorge. Due to environmental considerations, have involved the construction of viaducts and the tunnel sections.